There is a
gold
mask-shaped
object
that weighs
26 grams
and is less than
three centimeters
in length.
For some,
it is only worth it because of its precious metal composition
.
But for others,
it is also a treasure that they seek to obtain at all costs.
Workers
at an
American store
discovered that they had received
, as a donation,
a rare LEGO collector's item
.
In the end, the business decided to
auction it off for a charitable cause.
And they got
thousands of dollars.
The non-profit organization Goodwill, committed to helping people in vulnerable situations in various ways, told local media that
in February someone donated jewelry to them
.
This non-governmental entity is financed
through a network of own stores that sell second-hand products
donated by people
.
The jewelry in question, which was
kept in a bag
, ended up in the warehouse of one of the
Goodwill
branches , located in the city of
DuBois
(state of
Pennsylvania
).
At the beginning of February, the employees of the place
examined the jewelry
and noticed that inside the bag there was also something else: a
small object shaped like a mask
.
Immediately,
they put it up for sale
through the store's website.
The Vice President of E-Commerce and Technology at Goodwill in North-Central Pennsylvania,
Chad Smith , told
People
magazine
that at first the item went up for auction
with a base price of
US$14.95
because
they did not know its true value
.
Sale.
At first, it went up for auction with an initial price that did not correspond to its value.
Photo: Goodwill Industries International Inc.
"
We didn't really know what the piece was worth
until people started asking if they could buy it
for $1,000
," Smith recalled in conversation with television station
WPVI-TV
.
The origin of the gold object
Faced with this panorama, from the Goodwill store they began to investigate the origin of the piece and were truly surprised.
Soon, they realized that in their hands they had a
rare collectible item from the Danish toy company LEGO
.
This 14-karat
gold object
, called
Golden Kanohi Hau Mask
, is reminiscent
of a mask worn
by the
fictional
Bionicle
characters
:
It is a series of toys manufactured by the same company.
Example.
The golden mask, placed on one of the Bionicle characters.
Photo: illustrative/Worthpoint.
The collectible item, Smith told
KDKA-TV
, was part of a
2001
advertising campaign : at that time, LEGO
manufactured only 30 examples (platinum, gold and silver) of the Bionicle mask
.
Part of these copies
were awarded to winners of a contest
and the rest to employees
of the toy company, Smith said.
How much money was it sold for?
On February 21, after 48 auction bids, an anonymous buyer managed to acquire the collector's item: in total,
According to Goodwill's website, he
paid $18,101.
Fact.
In total, she weighs 26.14 grams.
Photo: Goodwill Industries International Inc.
For his part, Smith told WPVI-TV that Goodwill
will allocate all the money raised from the sale of the gold mask
to finance its program to
help people in vulnerable situations
.